FOG AND ICE
An Evening of Three One Acts

By EUGENE O’NEILL and ESTHER E. GALBRAITH

Featuring

JESSE CASTELLANOS, CHARLOTTE COHN, SIMON FEIL,
JOHN LONG and STEVEN RATTAZZI

Directed by JERRY HEYMANN
Scenic Designer: BRIAN DUDKIEWICZ
Costume Designer: JULIA SQUIER
Lighting Designer: MAX STROEHER
Sound Designer: ANDY EVAN COHEN
Production Stage Manager: ROGER LIPSON

Theatre 2 @ Theatre Row
410 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues
Tickets: https://bfany.org/theatre-row/shows/fog-and-ice-an-evening-of-three-one-acts/
February 12-28; Opening Night – 02/15/26

Although written in the early 1900’s, the three plays in FOG AND ICE deal with issues prominent in today’s concerns. The fragility of the mind, how we cope with out-of-the-norm situations, and the resilience of the human spirit could just as easily be applied to current events. Silence and loneliness are persistent themes throughout, and all locales are water bound.

In Eugene O’Neill’s ILE (oil) a prideful captain (John Long) chooses ego and profits over his slowly deteriorating wife (Charlotte Cohn). In O’Neill’s FOG two men adrift after a shipwreck (Simon Feil, Steven Rattazzi) philosophically debate the meaning of life from negative and positive sides of the spectrum and are then confronted by both reality and a miracle. Esther E. Galbraith’s THE BRINK OF SILENCE places two men (John Long, Simon Feil) at the edge of Antarctic. One has given up the life he knew; the other longs to return. Another adventurer (Jessie Castellanos) invades this frozen world and reinforces the decisions made by both men.

What really knocks this trilogy out of the park are the sublime performances of the cast. The men play several roles adeptly, and the lone female is heartbreakingly convincing. The brilliance of both O’Neill and Galbraith are on display here. Either they were both ahead of their times, or silence and loneliness are timeless and universal.  Perhaps a bit of both.  FOG AND ICE is a rare opportunity to see master playwrights in an unusual light.

- Laurie Lawson -